


For the Stars

by limesicle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Season 4 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 14:26:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12389922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limesicle/pseuds/limesicle
Summary: If the ending of the last episode had happened a little differently, and Keith hadn't reacted quickly enough when Lotor destroyed the battle cruiser's shield.





	For the Stars

Lance sits in the red lion with his hands gripping the controls he still hadn’t mastered perfectly. Voltron wouldn’t make it in time. With moments left before the planet behind them explodes and wipes them, and a good number of their allies, out of existence, Lance is panicking. The battle cruiser is too far for them to reach with any of their weapons. The canon’s beam would barely reach the cruiser nevermind damage it.

 

With nothing else to do, Lance pushes the red lion to the limit. They won’t make it unless some miracle occurs. There has to be something, someone, that can save them. Lance’s face strains with the effort and the mental toll of the battle. They’re getting closer, but it’s not good enough. He can see the battle cruiser. If only they could go a little faster. If only they’d escaped from the field around the planet a few minutes earlier.

 

Then he sees it. It’s just a speck, but he knows it’s a ship. It hovers outside the shield that protects the battle cruiser. Time seems to slow down for a moment. Without any communication, without any visual confirmation, he knows who the person on the ship is and what he’s going to do.

 

“Keith.” The name escapes through gritted teeth. The others are too focused on simply pushing forward with all their might that no one hears it through the comm.

 

Lance redoubles his efforts. He strains with every fiber of his being, willing Voltron to somehow make it in time to destroy the shield and stop Hagar’s magic.

 

Keith closes his eyes. There’s only one option left if they’re to have any chance of winning this battle. His palms are sweaty, and he tightens the grip on the controls. He takes a deep breath and shifts them forward. The thrusters flare into action.  _ This is it. _ The end of the line. 

 

In this moment, he remembers everything. Maybe this is what it means to have your life flash before your eyes. He sees his father in the desert shack. He sees blurry memories of his mother, someone whose face he doesn’t know anymore. He sees Shiro. He sees the Galaxy Garrison. He sees the paladins and Allura and Coran. In the past few weeks, he hasn’t been to the Castle of Lions. There’s an empty ache in his chest, but in a few more seconds it won’t matter anymore. Sometimes he wishes that the team would have tried to stop him from choosing the Blades of Marmora a little more. It feels like they let him go without a fight.

 

Even Shiro did. 

 

Even Lance did. 

 

Keith grits his teeth. The impact will hit him any moment now, but all he can think of is Lance. He wonders if the now-red paladin will miss him, and a selfish part of Keith hopes he will. He remembers Lance when he was loud and being an idiot. But he remembers Lance when he was quiet, too. When did he fall in love? It was somewhere in the moments between their bickering. It was in the scattered moments when they worked together or when they talked instead of argued. Or when Lance would do something, and Keith would feel the heat in his chest.

 

He can feel heat now. The light that comes through his closed eyelids is getting brighter. The heat is getting stronger. Keith blinks his eyes open. His hands move to the controls a moment late. The explosion that took out the shield of the battle cruiser blows through the galra fighter he took like paper. The force knocks the wind out of him, and he barely has the breath to scream.

 

Keith lingers in the realm between consciousness and unconsciousness. The wounds on his body are too many to count, so he doesn’t bother. As his hold on consciousness loosens, he wonders vaguely who managed to take out the shields. 

 

Lance watches the explosion, his anxiety exploding with it. The speck that was Keith’s ship is engulfed by the light of the explosion. Without making a conscious decision, Voltron breaks apart, and Lance races forward. The red lion is fast, and he pushes the limits on that speed. His heart beats in his throat. He dives into the debris and ash left behind. Keith is somewhere here. Instinct leads him through despite low visibility, or maybe it’s some lingering connection between the red lion and Keith. 

 

At last, Lance spots him. With Keith in the red lion’s mouth, he races to the Castle of Lions. He hears the voices of the others through the comm, but can hardly comprehend what they’re saying. There’s only one thing on his mind.

 

“Coran, Coran, can you hear me?” Lance asks, and his voice is so strained he’s practically rasping. He gets an answer in the affirmative.

 

“Healing pod. Get one ready.”

 

His brain has been through too much to process anything beyond that. He somehow makes it the castle. He throws off his helmet. Even though it supplies oxygen, sometimes it feels too close, like he can’t breathe. Keith is unconscious when Lance reaches him. He takes a moment to visually assess Keith’s injuries. His stomach clenches. It’s bad. As carefully as he can, he lifts Keith into his arms and rushes to the healing pod.

 

He mutters under his breath as he half walks half runs through the hallways of the castle. “Keith, I swear to god, if you die on me, I will drag you back from the underworld and kill you myself.”

 

Coran has the healing pod ready by the time Lance skids into the room. He opens his mouth to question, but Lance cuts him off.

 

“Later,” he hisses as he carries Keith to the cryopod. 

 

They put him into the cryopod suit as quickly as they can. Lance is so focused on not aggravating the injuries more than he has to that he doesn’t think of anything else. As the glass of the healing pod closes, the worst of the stress starts to leave Lance. His legs feel weak and he braces himself on the glass in front of him. Lance sinks to the floor and rests his arms on his knees. He answers Coran’s questions as well as he can given his tired state. The rest of the paladins come into the room somewhere in the middle of his explaining, so he has to restart.

 

Keith takes a week to wake up. During that time, Lance spends more time with him than not. With the victory and their new possible alliance with Lotor, a lot is happening, but Lance hardly pays attention to it. There are rebels and other visitors in the castle a lot of the time, which makes it difficult for Lance to get away. He has to pretend to be in a good mood when he meets them, but it gets increasingly forced as the time goes by.

 

Lance is half asleep leaning against the side of the cryopod when it finally opens. Keith stumbles out, and he barely manages to catch him. As Keith continues to lean against him for support, Lance becomes increasingly aware of the warmth of his body. Keith separates himself quickly and looks at him almost accusingly.

 

“Hey,” Lance says.

“Guess I’m not dead,” Keith says in a tone that’s trying a little too hard to be casual.

“I was really worried, you jerk.”

 

Keith hesitates for a moment. “I thought it was the only way to give us a chance. The mission is more important than the individu–”

 

Lance presses his hands against Keith’s mouth.

 

“You’re important, too.”

“Not compared to–”   
“Shut up for a sec, and listen,” Lance interrupts. “In the whole scheme of things, one person is less important than victory or whatever. I get that. War takes sacrifice sometimes. But, I wasn’t even sure– I didn’t know if that was you or not. Keith, you could’ve died and wouldn’t even have known! At least give me a warning.”

 

Keith removes Lance’s hand from his mouth, but looks away.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

It takes a moment for Lance to process Keith’s quiet apology. When he does, he realizes he doesn’t have anything else to say.

 

“Anyway, let’s get you to your room to rest or maybe to the kitchen if you’re hungry.”

 

He turns away and starts to head for the door, when he feels a tug on his jacket. He freezes.

 

“I was thinking about you. When I thought I was going to– when I thought that was the end, I was thinking about you, Lance,” Keith says carefully.

“About me?” Lance asks.

“I promised myself that if I did wake up, I would tell you.” He speaks slowly. “Hey, Lance, would it bother you if I was in love with you?”

“If you were– what kind of a question is that?”

“Just answer.”

 

Lance turns around, and Keith raises his gaze to look straight into Lance’s eyes. 

 

“Yeah, it would, because that would mean I’ve been sitting around thinking my feelings were one-sided for ages.”

  
Keith’s eyes flicker in confusion. The moment when he gets it, his face colors and he looks away.

 

“Ah.”

“Don’t ‘ah’ me. I just told you I’m madly in love with you, too, try to sound a little happier. Unless you’re not...” 

“I am happy.” Keith cuts him off. “I just didn’t think about this possibility.”

 

Lance offers his hand to Keith. “In any case, let me escort you.”

“You’re embarrassing,” Keith complains, but takes his hand anyway.

 

Lance swings their linked hands gently as they walk. With their fingers intertwined, Keith notices how much bigger Lance’s hands are than his. He squeezes his hand a little, and Lance squeezes back. The smile finds its way onto his face without his bidding.  _ This is nice, _ he thinks.

 

Down one of the hallways they walk past, Pidge is using one hand to stifle laughter and the other to keep Hunk from running to Keith and hugging him. When they pass, Pidge leans around corner to watch them go.

 

“Looks like I won the bet,” Pidge says. “Wow, they’re even holding hands.”

Hunk groans. “I thought it would take at least another month at the rate they were going. And why’d you stop me?”

“They probably need some alone time.”

Hunk raises his eyebrows. “This is out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Nah, I just don’t want to see them being gross. Also, want to bet on when they’ll tell the rest of us?”

 

Hunk holds out for a good ten seconds before he agrees. In the end, Pidge wins the bet when they walk into the dining room for dinner with their hands still intertwined.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I just watched season 4, and I wanted to write something. Even though I've been in the Voltron fandom for a long time, I think this is the first fanfic I've written for klance. I hope they're at least sort of in character. Thanks for reading^^


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